Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment increased 5% from US$102.6 billion in 2021 to an all-time record of US$107.6 billion last year, SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, reported today.
For the third consecutive year, China remained the largest semiconductor equipment market in 2022 despite a 5% slowdown in the pace of investments in the region year over year, accounting for US$28.3 billion in billings. Taiwan, the second-largest destination for equipment spending, recorded an increase of 8% to US$26.8 billion, marking the fourth straight year of growth for the region. Equipment sales to Korea contracted 14% to US$21.5 billion. Annual semiconductor equipment investments in Europe surged 93%, while North America logged a 38% increase. Sales to the Rest of World and Japan increased 34% and 7% year over year, respectively.
"The record high for semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales in 2022 stems from the industry's drive to add the fab capacity required to support long-term growth and innovations in key end markets including high-performance computing and automotive," said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO. "Additionally, the results reflect investments and determination across regions to avoid future semiconductor supply chain constraints like those that surfaced during the pandemic."
Global sales of wafer processing equipment rose 8% in 2022, while other front-end segment billings grew 11%. After robust growth in 2021, assembly and packaging equipment sales decreased 19% last year while total test equipment billings contracted 4% year over year.
